Filipino cuisine is making a home in Westwood.
The Filipino restaurant Silog Rice Above opened in August on Kinross Avenue and is the project of owner and manager Maribel Gregorio. When the restaurant first opened, it only served breakfast and then expanded operations to include dinner with hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. Gregorio said her goal is to provide authentic Filipino food to both Filipino and non-Filipino customers.
“For me, it’s more than just a restaurant,” Gregorio said. “It’s my way of sharing the Filipino comfort food I grew up with, and I want to bring the same feeling of home not only for Filipinos who miss the taste of our food but also for people of all backgrounds to experience what Filipino flavors are all about.”
Gregorio said her love for cooking began as a child when she spent time in the kitchen with her mother and saw the connection food could provide. After her family moved to the United States in 2013, Gregorio said she went to culinary school in San Francisco and worked as a cook at establishments such as The Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. She said she then relocated to Los Angeles about five years ago to become the restaurant manager of Nick The Greek on Kinross Avenue – a position she continues to hold today even as she operates her own restaurant.
Gregorio said part of the inspiration for Silog Rice Above came from a family trip she took a few years ago to the Philippines, where she realized she wanted to bring the Filipino breakfast experience to LA. The decision to expand the restaurant’s hours was in part to provide dinner to health care workers whose shifts do not end until the evening, Gregorio added.
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On a typical day, Gregorio said she arrives at Silog Rice Above at around 6 a.m. and helps with preparation for the day until around 10 a.m. She said she then spends the next seven hours managing Nick the Greek, before returning to Silog Rice Above around 5 p.m. and continuing to work until around 10 p.m. She said the long hours can be difficult, but she is becoming more accustomed to the schedule and wants to work hard to get ahead in the future. In the same vein, she added that Silog Rice Above might expand to new locations in San Diego and San Francisco.
Jonathan Bautista is the primary chef at the restaurant and said he has cooked across a variety of cuisines since 2000. He said he has offered suggestions to Gregorio to streamline the preparation for some of the dishes while recommending modifications to other dishes to make the menu more appetizing for customers. Bautista said he is impressed by Gregorio’s determination.
“The first time I met Maribel, I was so surprised that she was very young as an entrepreneur, and she had the determination to build her own restaurant,” Bautista said.
Bautista said one of the most popular dishes has been the chicken inasal, a grilled chicken leg quarter marinated in a special sauce with notes of lemon and ginger. Other successful plates have been pork dishes such as the pork belly adobo and the pork sisig, with the latter served with onions, peppers, garlic mayo and a citrus fruit called calamansi. He added that he is working on developing new dishes to expand the menu such as rice bowls with steamed bok choy and garlic soy sauce.
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Florence Lyn Bansag, a UCLA alumnus and a program consultant at the David Geffen School of Medicine, is Gregorio’s cousin and said she has observed Gregorio’s cooking journey for many years. She said she had several conversations with Gregorio after her cousin moved to Westwood in 2020 that helped plant the seed of opening a Filipino restaurant in the area. As the two explored the LA food scene in search of Filipino eateries, Bansag said it became clear that Filipino cuisine is underrepresented in Westwood.
As Gregorio became settled in her new city, Bansag said her cousin learned about the demographics of the area while locating staff and planning the menu she would serve. She said Gregorio prioritized representing the culture of the local Filipino community – which includes UCLA students and health care workers at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine – as a way of giving back. Bansag added that her cousin’s perseverance has remained consistent in the time leading up to Silog Rice Above’s opening.
“I know there were times that she was questioning, like, ‘Maybe this isn’t going to work,’” Bansag said. “But to my surprise, she still kept going. And I know this isn’t easy or cheap – a lot of this is her own time, her own money, sweat, labor, everything.”
Bansag said she holds a great amount of admiration for her cousin since Gregorio makes a continuous effort to push the quality of her food and service to new heights, even while juggling multiple jobs. She said there is never a job that is above or below Gregorio, who can be found cleaning the kitchen or scrubbing toilets while also ensuring that every dish is cooked properly. Even in uncertain times such as the pandemic, Bansag said customers can count on Gregorio to provide reliable service and delicious food.
“If she eats, we all eat,” Bansag said. “She’s very giving, and I think that translates into her passion of work.”
